The Nigerian Exchange Market experienced a gloomy start to the week, with the market capitalization taking a hit, amounting to a loss of N259 billion on Monday. The downtrend was primarily driven by losses in the equities of medium-cap companies, leaving investors grappling with a bearish market atmosphere.
Figures from the NGX revealed that BUA Cement emerged at the top of the losers’ chart, witnessing a 10% decline in its share value, which slumped from N104 to N93.60 per unit. Other notable stocks in the red zone included Dangote Sugar (-0.43%), Lafarge (-0.17%), Oando Plc (-2.12%), Fidson (-3.53%), NGX Group (-0.68%), Zenith Bank (-0.43%), and United Bank for Africa (-0.23%).
The overall market capitalization and the All-Share Index both experienced a 0.66% drop, settling at N38.823 trillion and 70,946.83, respectively. Consequently, the year-to-date returns shifted to 38.43%. The trading volume on the local bourse also saw a decline to 358.53 million units from 361.12 million trades, with a total value of N7.10 billion, across 6,433 deals. Notably, a total of 121 stocks were traded during Monday’s trading session.
Despite the prevailing market downturn, positive sentiments persisted, resulting in 33 gainers and 26 losers. The gainers’ chart was spearheaded by Thomas Wyatt, a paper company, recording a 10% increase to close at N2.75 per unit. First Bank of Nigeria Holdings followed suit, with a 9.93% gain, closing at N24.35 per unit. Furthermore, Daar Communications experienced a 9.68% surge, concluding at N0.34, while DEAP Cap and Neimeth also saw increments of 9.68% and 9.63%, respectively.
Conversely, McNichols recorded a 9.33% decline, trailing closely behind BUA Cement. Computer Warehouse Group, Mutual Benefit, and UPDC also witnessed negative movements, with losses ranging from 7.14% to 7.50%.
The primary volume and value drivers for the day included Universal Insurance, indigenous Transnational Corporation, Airtel Africa, banking stock, and GTCO. Across all sectors, the market performance predominantly favored the bearish region, with three out of the five tracked sectors closing in the red. The Insurance, Oil/Gas, and Industrial Goods indexes were among the losers, experiencing declines of 0.28%, 0.01%, and 4.21%, respectively. On the flip side, the Banking and Consumer Goods sectors managed to advance, albeit modestly, by 0.01% and 0.06%, respectively.
While the Nigerian stock market faced significant headwinds on Monday, market analysts are closely monitoring the evolving trends, offering valuable insights to guide investors through these challenging times.
